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The Taste of Things is a visually intoxicating, and delicious drama about food
that won best director at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival. It's taken almost a
year for it to finally come to Chicago. The film is about a romantic
relationship between an autumnal couple that bond over their mutual love of
cooking, and it is elevated by terrific cinematography and always memorable
dialogue. Most of the story is told visually, and there is extraordinarily
little dialogue compared to most films. But when conversation occurs it is
always significant, and this is an endlessly quotable film. It is considered by
many critics, (myself included), as one of the most important films about
cooking ever along with Tampopo (1987), Babette’s Feast (1989), Like Water for
Chocolate (1992), Soul Food (1997) and Chocolat (2000) which coincidently also
stars Juliette Binoche.
The Taste of Things was directed and the screenplay adapted by the interesting cross cultural film maker,
Tran Anh-Hubng. The Vietnamese born director/screenplay writer who resides in
France also made the acclaimed The Scent of Green Papaya (93) and Cyclo (95).
The Taste of Things is his most sumptuous, gorgeous, and emotionally involving
film. His screenplay was adapted from the novel: The Life and Passion of Dodin-Bouffant by
Marcel Rouff. It was originally called Le Passion de Dodin Bouffant which is
The Passion of Dodin Bouffant in English. This would have been a much better
film
title because it could be seen to refer to both the main character’s passion for
food and his love for his female companion.
For me, The Taste of Things was much more impactful than the Oscar winner,
Anatomy of a
Fall. Much has been written about the
big controversy that occurred involving the two films.
Both films won international awards and were Cannes winners, but France chose The
Taste of Things to represent itself in the 2023 Oscar Best International Film
race. And while Taste of Things had many supporters it did not make the Oscar
final list
and it ultimately did not get nominated for any Oscars while
Anatomy of a
Fall got nominated for Best Director,
Best Actress, and Best Movie. Many critics have asserted
that that France would have had a chance to win if it had gone with
Anatomy of a
Fall in the International Film Category.
But I can see why France supported The Taste of Things because it is much more
representative of the French culture and sensibilities of the country. It
represents France as much as the Britpop bands band Oasis and Blur represented
England. In contrast
Anatomy of a
Fall was a German/French film which
is why it might have appealed more to the internationalist Oscar voters.
The Taste of Things stars Juliiette Binoche who has been so superb in so many
films that she should be declared a national treasure. Some of her most
memorable performances are in The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988), Lovers
on the Bridge (1992), the Three Colors trilogy (1993-95), Certified Copy (2010),
Clouds of Sils Maria (2014), and Both Sides of the Blade (2021). I was not as
impressed as many were with her performance in The English Patient (1996) for which she
won an Oscar, and I think of it as one of her lesser films. Arguably, there is
no finer actress in current cinema from any country although some weeks I prefer Cate Blanchett.
The film co-stars Benoit Magimel, the real-life ex-husband of Binoche and they
work splendidly together. He is probably best known for his unforgettable role
in the shocking masterpiece, The Piano Teacher (2001), and he also did several
fine films with the late, great French New Wave director, Claude Chabrol such as
The Flower of Evil (2002) and A Girl Cut in Two (2006). In The Taste of Things,
he convincingly plays Dodin who is modeled after the real-life world-famous food
connoisseur and gourmet Jean Brillat-Savarin.
The film mostly takes place in a French manor in the mid eighteen eighties which
is owned by monsieur Dodin Bouffant (Magimel). He has a loyal cook working for him,
mademoiselle Eugenie (Binoche) and
there is clearly some romantic chemistry between them. But their relationship
seems to often shift perhaps because she rules his heart and sometimes, she acts
like his boss and he cooks for her. The two also have an interesting sexual
arrangement. Some nights he comes to her room and if the door is unlocked, he
gets to spend the night. Somehow the film manages to be much more erotic and
romantic than your typical romantic film because of what this film leaves out or
does not spell out. Showing us less gives us much more.
In one of the culinary climaxes in the film, he tries to impress her by
preparing a perfect meal and he succeeds gloriously. As he prepares Baked Alaska
for her, he is as serious and meticulous as Michelangelo working on a fresco in
the Sistine Chapel. He delicately uses his fingers and puts truffle slices under
the chicken skin and of course when she devours it (wearing an exquisite ripe
looking orange dress) it is complete bliss. This is their version of a date and
it is more erotic than almost any sex scenes, and it is the finest examples of
culinary foreplay I have ever seen in a film. But there is also a religious
dimension to the scene and when she eats the flesh, he prepares it almost like a
Last Supper in which she is joining with him; I can’t give away too much but a
later tragedy gives the scene even more resonance. After the meal she gives him
a tender smile that lights up the whole room as if she had just given him the
world.
The couple have lived together and sometimes slept together for many years. This
raises the question of if they get along so perfectly why have they not married?
We eventually find that she has a tragic secret which could work against them
having a lasting relationship. He prods her a bit to marry but he has his own
doubts and tells her, “Marriage is a dinner that begins with desert.”
She also prepares a meal for a group of guests that transparently adore her and
are in awe of her skills. They take turns making meals and at one point he even
says, “I converse with you through what you eat.”
The unconventional couple find a surrogate daughter, Pauline when they take in a
teen girl named Pauline (Bonnie Chagneau-Ravoire) to teach her and nurture her
love of cooking. She is a food prodigy and although she sometimes gives the
adults a run for their money, even though Dodin says at one point “one cannot
become a gourmet until they are 40.” Despite their gentle criticism she becomes
like their real daughter and she is sustained by their tutelage and mutual love
for her. When Eugene cooks her version of Baked Alaska for Pauline, the young
apprentice rapturously says “I almost cried, ” and Eugenie smiles with glee as
if she sees herself in the eager pupil. Binoche can convey more with her eyes
and one smile than most actresses can convey with half an hour of dialogue.
The Taste of Things had a much stronger effect on me than most other films I
have seen this year. It left me fully satisfied and I felt like
I had consumed a perfect meal with people I cared deeply about.
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